Strategic Direction 2.0: Workforce
Assist our members in creating and developing the healthcare workforce for the 21st century.
Overview
The Center for Health Affairs and its workforce initiative, NEONI, are in the process of developing a tool to more accurately be able to predict the nursing workforce needs of a 17‐county area in the Northeast region of Ohio. Craig Moore, PhD, an economist from Massachusetts, and Pat Cirillo, PhD, of Cleveland have been working on this initiative. As part of the data‐gathering component of the study, all hospitals and schools of nursing are being surveyed, along with select long‐term care and home health agencies. Individual participant information is kept confidential and only aggregated data are made public. Primary funders of this project are the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation and the M.E. and F.J. Callahan Foundation. The Northwest Health Foundation administers funding on behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Center for Health Affairs provided funding and in‐kind support to the project with the total cost of the project at $70,000.
Core Value
The forecasting tool will be used in a variety of ways to benefit Northeast Ohio hospitals. It will be able to provide agency‐specific information, specialized reports and hypothetical modeling upon request, and overall information on population demographics, health insurance, and regional economic influences.
Deliverables
2.1.1 Predictive Modeling: A core function of the initiative will be a model that allows for forecasting of future nursing
workforce needs based on numerous variables. This will be a valuable tool for administrators and leaders in a variety of related environments including the acute care, long‐term care, home health care, and academic settings; as well as in economic development and workforce initiatives across Northeast Ohio.
Hospital Administrators
This model will contribute to the strategic planning processes implemented by hospital administrators by providing accurate predictions about the largest component of the hospital workforce.
Marketing Directors
As demand for professionals in the nursing workforce increases, the model allows for targeted marketing based on need for LPN, RN, or APN.
Chief Nursing Officers/Clinical Directors/Human Resources
Knowing the demand in one’s own organization combined with an awareness of regional demand will assist local healthcare leaders in planning their development and recruitment strategies.
Government & Community Affairs
The nursing forecast model provides a tool to predict workforce needs locally and regionally, which is of value to the various workforce agencies in Northeast Ohio. Economic development agencies and professionals can use this data in their community forecasting and planning initiatives
Overview
The Center for Health Affairs workforce initiative, NEONI, is a collaborative of nursing and healthcare leaders from both practice and academia across Northeast Ohio. The mission of NEONI is to create and sustain a strong professional nursing workforce across the region and to support nursing workforce initiatives.
Core Value
NEONI represents a unique opportunity for hospital nursing leaders to interface with their colleagues in from academia, a collaboration that did not previously occur in this region and that is absent in many other communities across the country. Together, nursing leaders in practice and education through NEONI have spearheaded a number of programs that have enhanced the healthcare workforce in Northeast Ohio.
Deliverables
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2.2.1 Healthcare Career Shadowing: Twenty‐four hospitals in Northeast Ohio, including those in the Greater Akron area, provide shadowing opportunities to approximately 200 high schools in the disciplines of nursing, physical and occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, laboratory, radiology and pharmacy. This program exposes many students to healthcare careers in their junior and seniors years. Included in the program are the development of a brief survey tool to determine how many of hospitals’ new hires participated in the NEONI Shadowing program, and the distribution of County Reports at the end of the school year for hospitals to determine the amount of time their staff contributed to shadowing students.
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2.2.2 Healthcare Leadership Institute: This online course, with Lorain County Community College as the education partner, was piloted for the Fall and Spring semesters of the 2009/10 academic year with a positive outcome. Eighteen new and/or aspiring healthcare managers completed the course with coaching provided by five veteran healthcare leaders. The program will be expanded based on the success of the pilot.
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2.2.3 StudentMAX™: StudentMAX™ is an online tool that is used by both hospitals and educational institutions to facilitate the placement of nursing students in their clinical experiences. It improves clinical placement capacity, increases access to new clinical sites, and allows greater ease in matching nursing students with clinical experiences. Currently our client base consists of 28 hospitals and 21 schools of nursing in Ohio. Plans for 2011 are as follows:
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Staff will act as a marketing resource for the national StudentMAX network, offering marketing support services such as online videos and annual usage reports customized for their clients.
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The addition of Advanced Practice Nurses Preceptors into the database will be piloted.
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The potential addition of Allied Health students through a partnership with Ohio Skills Bank will be explored.
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Staff will pursue expansion into the Greater Akron area.
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Staff will develop an a la carte menu of features/services within the system with a related fee structure.
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2.2.4 University Connection: Staff will pursue additional opportunities to maintain and grow the collaboration between
hospitals and educational institutions both within the current NEONI membership and in new areas, such as Youngstown.
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2.2.5 Center for Nursing Research, Quality and Practice: The Center will develop and implement a collaborative between advanced practice nurses from academia and practice for the purpose of conducting shared nursing research regarding evidence‐based practice, patient safety, and quality of care. The goal will be the development of best practices to address areas such as the nursing practice gap and care delivery models.
Overview
The Center, through NEONI, has been involved in initiatives related to the nursing workforce for 10 years. More recently, the scope of NEONI activities has expanded to encompass the allied health professions. Efforts already underway include providing shadowing opportunities, serving as as coliaison (with NOHSIC) to employers, and working with both the Ohio Skills Bank and the Healthcare Sector Council of the Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board (WIB). The Center will seek additional opportunities to expand its workforce initiative to include the allied health professions.
Core Value
Hospital workforce needs and demands are not limited to nurses exclusively. Allied health professionals are another significant component of the healthcare workforce and are facing many of the same issues nurses face, including shortages and the need to better connect practice and academia. The Center will build on the momentum of its current allied health initiatives as well as those already underway in the community. Working in collaboration with other workforce initiatives that involve allied health
professions will be important in keeping up with the rapidly changing needs of employers and the vast and varied educational and training requirements of each discipline.
Deliverables
2.3.1 OSB State Grant: The Center will work to secure a State grant to conduct a StudentMAX™ pilot for the allied health positions for which there is the greatest demand in Northeast Ohio, potentially including laboratory technicians, respiratory technicians, occupational therapy assistants and physical therapy assistants.
Overview
Considerable evidence suggests that a challenge exists in getting new nurse graduates ready to practice competently in the workplace. The NEONI Education Committee has been charged by the larger NEONI Steering Committee with working on addressing what is referred to as the practice gap. A few strategies have been considered, including providing precepted experiences for all senior students and asking the State of Ohio to consider provisional licensure. It has been discovered that only one state requires this type of licensure and it has proven ineffective as hospitals there are actually encouraging graduates to go out of state to get their licenses so that they can more quickly get into the workforce. Most hospitals in Northeast Ohio have implemented some type of nurse residency program for their new nurse graduates or at the minimum extended their orientation period. The cost burden for these stop‐gap programs is assumed by the hospitals. Through NEONI, The Center will pursue a nurse residency pilot that would be a collaborative project between practice and academia with shared costs for implementation.
Core Value
An evidence‐based nurse residency program that could be utilized by hospitals in Northeast Ohio would:
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Decrease the economic burden on hospitals.
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Allow the responsibility for continued nursing education to be shared between hospitals and schools.
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Provide quality and consistent clinical education.
Deliverables
2.4.1. Nurse Residency Pilot: The NEONI Education Committee, which represents both academia and practice, will develop a nurse residency curriculum based on research and evidence. Staff will work to secure grant funding for a pilot program.
Overview
In 2009, The Center for Health Affairs convened the senior human resources leaders from the membership to establish the Human Resources Forum. At the outset, the purpose of the HR Forum was helping these executives to remain up to date on industry trends, exchange best practices, and identify collaborative opportunities that could promote the healthcare workforce and help to sustain the Northeast Ohio economy. In subsequent meetings of the forum, a recurring issue emerged related to hospitals, their workforce shortages and the critical role of hospitals as job creators in the regional economy. Hospital leaders voiced an interest in working together to position Northeast Ohio as the destination for healthcare employment. Members of the HR Forum recognize that there may be other community initiatives related to workforce and the economy and, therefore, connecting to these other existing initiatives will be important.
Core Value
Healthcare workers are already in short supply, and these shortages are only expected to grow in the future. It will be important for the region to retain those who are educated in our local colleges and universities and those who complete their residencies here, as well as to attract professionals from outside the area to Northeast Ohio. Not only will hospitals benefit in their efforts to fill vacancies, but the economy will also benefit from growth in its skilled, paid workforce.
Deliverables
To promote Destination Northeast Ohio, the HR Forum has identified the following strategies:
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Work with business organizations such as the Medical Mart, Team NEO, BioEnterprise, and colleges and universities to bring other vendors, manufacturers and jobs to Northeast Ohio.
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Develop a social network to reach out to high school and college students to assist in attracting and recruiting of healthcare personnel. Also work more effectively with hospitals in managing the re‐training and education of displaced workers.
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Work with the area Chamber of Commerce and Medical Mart to promote our world class hospitals to position Northeast Ohio as the destination for medical tourism.